


When You Wish Upon a Star

by ElvenStars



Category: Daredevil (Comics), Daredevil (TV), Marvel, Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Bedtime Stories, But it still counts, Gen, Mike's only technically in there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:29:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29945886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElvenStars/pseuds/ElvenStars
Summary: Why the Murdocks have the Devil in them (also known as Matt's favorite bedtime story)
Relationships: Jonathan "Jack" Murdock & Matt Murdock
Kudos: 10





	When You Wish Upon a Star

The Murdocks had the Devil in them.

It was an old story, handed down through the years like a particularly old and fragile bit of furniture that'd been around since your great great great grandpappy wasn't nothin but a twinkle in someone's eye. Safegarded less out of any real attatchment to the story, than because That Was How It Was Done. Jack had had it handed down to him when he was just a little kid, and when he'd become a father himself it had quickly become Matt's favorite bedtime story. Jack had always told it the same way, with all the ease of long practice blended with a memory that belied his day job. The way it went was this: 

A long long time ago, back in old Ireland, there'd been a man and a boat. The man (who after Matt had asked him for the ninth time, Jack had dubbed 'Mike') had been out to sea in search of some fish for his dinner when a terrible storm blew in from outta nowhere. Now Mike was a good man in a pinch; he'd been a warrior and a scoundrel in his youth, and was still a slippery character even after twenty five years of bein a fisherman. Even so, he was strugglin to keep himself above the waterline in the face of the wind and waves. 

Eventually, Mike realized that there was no way he was getting outta this one on his own, so he called out to God for help. His ship had been passing by a church they'd build on the top of a cliff, and the storm was so strong that it blew his prayer past the bells of the church, and all the way to God's ears. But this was in Old Ireland, back when God was still new to the country, and didn't quite know his way around yet. God heard the plea, but the feckin -er, you didn't hear that - the danged roads were so twisty and tangled that even He was gonna take a minute to get there and lend a hand. 

When he didn't get a response, Mike called out to the Faeries, the old neighbors under the hills. They heard him, but they knew Mike from pranks and tricks in his youth, and he'd welched on a few too many bets he shouldn't've for any of the little people to lend him an ear. So their answer to him was to have the wind tangle his hair, and the waves pull at his feet up on the deck. 

Finally, Mike had no one left to beg help from but the Devil. So he called out to the old serpent, and the Devil, who always has an ear out for the foolish and the desperate, heard him. 

Now, the way I heard it when I was your age, these waves musta been 50 feet high if they was an inch. Wind so strong it'd blow the look off your face. But when the Devil stepped onto that ship? Everything stopped. The sea froze; the storm decided to take a minute to catch its breath, and the only thing Mikey could hear was his heart goin a mile a minute.

That (and here his dad would always pause and look him dead in the eye, even after the accident) and the sound of the Devil introducin himself. 

The Devil knew Mike. He'd been in the game long enough to recognize a fellow trickster, and he told him that he'd help him out if Mike'd be his boots on the ground in Ireland. God Himself had only just gotten there, and so the Devil certainly hadn't had time yet to set up shop. All Mike had to do was shake on it, and the Fallen One would turn into the morning's star for long enough for Mike to make it to shore safe. And to top it off, the Devil would even give him a special place besides him in hell when he did die. 

Mike was no genius, but he'd been playing games like this one for long enough to know that something that smelled as sweet as this deal would leave a bad taste in his mouth. Still, he was still in a tight spot with no other options before him, so he did the only thing he could. Before he agreed though, he made the Devil promise that, if he somehow made it to shore under his own power: the deal was off, and Mike was his own man again. Deal struck, they shook hands and got to work.

The Devil turned into a star, and flew off into the sky to shine out through the storm. Mike took his heading off of it at first, but he was a talented sailor, and eventually started to make his way on his own around the frozen waves on the sea. The Devil saw he'd made it a third of the way back and sent the wind after him to trip him up. It blew and bit him and tore at his clothes, but Mike got used to taking those blows, and once again started to sail unaided. So the Devil unfroze the sea, and waves big as buildings started crashing down around him. But Mike had caught his breath back and was almost as tough as I am, so he fought the sea and the wind both and made it another third of the way back. 

The Devil's a mean old cuss, and he wasn't about to let this go. So, for just a minute, he turned out all the other lights on the sea and conjured up out a black sky. Mike couldn't see anything, not an inch in front of his face, but he couldn't let the Devil win, not when he was so close. He took his best guess, pulling on all his years of experience, and closed his eyes to sail on blind through the storm. 

The Devil was hopping mad, and fell down outta the sky to ask Mike what in the name of him was trying to pull. He swatted Mike on the nose, and forced him to open his eyes. Mike, seeing that he was ten feet from the beach, did the only thing he could think of, and opened his mouth and swallowed the cruel star. 

It burned like anything, and the Devil started kicking and punching to get free. Mike was doing his best to keep him from getting loose, but even carrying Satan for ten feet was no easy task. He was five feet, three feet, two, and the Devil was just about to claw his way free, when God finally made it to the scene. 

Now, God can't make our choices for us, but He can give us strength when we're feeling low, so he gave Mike the strength to hold back the Devil, and got him to shore. God met him as he stepped off the boat, and apologized for not getting there sooner. But, He told Mike, he shoulda known better than to try calling on the Devil for help, which Mike exhausted, beaten, and bruised, was in no mood ta hear. 

Mike squared up and gave God a piece of his mind, sayin that sometimes getting help from the Devil was the only option a fellah had. This set God off, who wasn't as forgiving back in those days. and He said to Mike: "Well if the two of you are such pals, then why don't I let you get better acquainted?" And He stuck His hand straight into old Mike's belly, grabbed the Devil, and tied him in a knot around Mike's soul. It hurt somethin fierce, near as much as the Devil tryin to claw his way out had. And God said to him "Now you listen to me Michael Murdock: ye've done a dumb thing today; but the longer he's inside you, the more time I have out here to get set up. So: if you can keep him busy for a while, then when you die I'll buy the first round."

Well they shook on it, and Mike lived a long and happy life; but when his time came, Mike realized that he had a problem. See, he knew that the instant he died, the Devil would get free. And that mean fu-cuss (ah shit- you didn't hear that either) that mean cuss would be on him faster than a sneeze, and would drag him down into hell before he could reach the pearly gates. So Mike asked his son to take up the burden, which he did, and Mike went and died soon as he could so the kid couldn't make him take it back. 

And so to this day the Murdocks fight to keep the Devil inside them, 'cause the only thing worse than living with the Devil inside you is dealin with what happens when you set him free. 

Now go to bed, alright? Christ, don't think I was half as rambunctious at your age. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you were curious: Yes, Jack pronounced the capital letters for God and the Devil *every single time*


End file.
